


Dick's Favorite Person

by redrobinfection (ChristmasRivers)



Series: Happy Birthday, Barbara Gordon! [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Fluff, Gen, always dickbabs if you squint, dickbabs if you squint, happy birthday babs!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 05:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20754773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristmasRivers/pseuds/redrobinfection
Summary: First Jason dropped off a surprise cake. Then Tim dropped by to eat said cake and make a surprising offering of espresso and terrible coffee puns. Now Dick drops by to pick up Babs to take her to the manor for her birthday dinner, but what surprise doeshehave in store for her?





	Dick's Favorite Person

After Tim left, Barbara tidied up her kitchen, got herself dressed, and bided her time doing light chores around the apartment until her father arrived to take her out for their traditional birthday brunch.

They had started the tradition, long before she had become Batgirl, as a logical alternative after so many postponed or cancelled birthday dinners and parties over the years, postponed and cancelled due mostly to her father’s demanding and unpredictable work with the GCPD. In the end, Gotham’s crime came to dominate both their lives, and the birthday brunches, precisely timed to occur in the daily lull in crime that occurs just after the sun rises, had worked well for both of them.

After a quick bite to eat at her favorite diner, a brief exchange of gifts, and a few hugs from her father before he had to hurry back to the all-consuming task of wrangling Gotham’s crime, Babs spent the rest of her day of birth sleeping. As a gift to herself she slept an extra hour and a half before rousing herself around five. A call to Alfred earlier had confirmed dinner for eight, so she took her time showering and dressing and enjoyed a refreshing double-espresso made from the beans Tim had given her earlier while she played around by putting on real makeup–beyond a little eyeliner and lip gloss–for the first time in a long while.

Right as she was about to call for a ride, she heard a ring from the street door. She smirked. She wouldn’t put it past Alfred to magically know when she was ready and to come for her himself, even in the middle of preparing her celebration dinner. She opened her door, not to Alfred, but to Dick Grayson, dressed in nice civvies and smiling widely. He beamed down at her.

“Hey, Babs, Happy Birthday!”

He bent over to give her a hug, partially lifting her out of her chair after she wrapped her arms around his neck. She thumped him across the back of the head - he laughed, the goofball - but after a moment he gently lowered her back into the chair.

Barbara settled back into the seat and raised eyebrow. “Did Alfred send you?”

“No, I sent myself!” Dick replied defensively, although his grin turned sheepish. “But I may have had to talk Alfred out of driving down to get you. Honestly, he has enough to do preparing the manor and the food and all of that!”

Barbara nodded. “He does. Shall we?”

Dick stepped to one side and made a sweeping gesture. “Ladies first.” Barbara stuck her tongue out at him as she rolled out the door, but she appreciated the real sentiment, which saw her roll herself up to his car and load herself in under her own power. Dick was one of the few who knew her well enough to not offer unnecessary aid and not be weird about it either.

Dick did help her by stowing her collapsible wheelchair in the trunk before hopping into the driver’s seat and steering them out into the traffic clogging the roads. They slowly made their way toward the interstate, hopping on in the direction headed out of the city, toward Bristol.

After a few minutes of driving in relative silence - nothing about traffic in a big city was ever actually quiet - Dick cleared his throat.

“So, uh, how’d you spend your birthday?” he asked, sending her a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the road.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Barbara replied offhandedly. “Dad and I went for our annual birthday brunch–quick and simple like it always is–and then I spent the rest of the day sleeping. Let myself sleep in; gave myself a break from research this afternoon. Nothing special.”

Dick hummed in acknowledgement. “Does it bother you that your dad always suggests brunch instead of dinner or whatever?” he asked, voice deceptively casual.

Barbara raised both her eyebrows. “Not really. We’re both busy and I still find it sweet and kind of funny that he convinces the diner to send me a stack of birthday pancakes with icing and candles on top every year. We eat, we talk, he gives me all the gifts he would if we sat down to dinner or had a party. What else could I ask for?”

Dick shrugged. “I dunno, I was just wondering. Making conversation to pass the time…” he trailed off into breathy whistling that died the minute he made eye contact with Barbara’s questioning stare. She raised an eyebrow but let it drop.

“Speaking of gifts, I take it you heard what Jason and Tim did earlier this morning?” She asked, changing the subject.

Dick huffed. “Yeah, they totally jumped the gun, giving you your gifts right after midnight,” he grumbled. “Before the sun even rose! Cheaters.”

“Oh?” Barbara was getting tired of raising her eyebrows today. “And yet this is the first I’ve seen or heard from you all day. No visit, no gift, not even a phone call wish me a happy day…”

Dick spluttered and she grinned to herself. “I-I was waiting for the party! A-and I thought it–I thought you’d be resting most of the day, so I didn’t want to bother you and…”

Barbara shook her head with a knowing little smile. Dick caught it out of the corner of his eye and grimaced.

“Admit it. You haven’t gotten me anything yet, have you?” she asked slyly, eyes twinkling.

He glanced over at her and deflated. “Fine. Yes! I just, you know, couldn’t figure out what to get you.” He blew the horn at a person who tried to cut him off right as he steered the car over into the exit ramp toward Bruce’s neighborhood in Bristol, then shook his head. “It used to be so easy. Flowers. Jewelry. Bat-themed anything.”

“It’s not that hard,” Barbara countered. “Jason made me a coffee flavored cake. Tim gave me coffee and a picture frame covered in coffee beans. Later, Bruce will probably give me the newest, fastest processors from Wayne Tech for my Oracle servers.”

Dick rolled his eyes. “First of all, I _refuse_ to enable anyone’s coffee addiction, and second, and what kind of computer doodad am I–me _not_ being the owner of a cutting edge tech firm–supposed to get _you_–the all-knowing tech guru– that you don’t already have?” he asked, glancing at her as he turned down the drive to Wayne Manor.

They rolled to a stop beside of the grand front entrance. “I’m only teasing you,” Barbara replied with fond smile, leaning over the center console to give him a peck on the cheek. “But I’m sure you’ll figure out something great. You always do.”

Dick’s cheeks pinkened and he smiled back at her. “Thanks, Babs. You know, this is why you’re my favorite person.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

“No, really, you’re my number one, all-time favorite, absolute best…”

His voice faded away as he hopped out of the car and disappeared into the trunk to grab her chair. Bruce and Tim appeared at the front door and laid the long, portable chair ramp across the front steps–it wasn’t often Babs visited by way of any entrance besides the Cave or the ground level door at the kitchen, but for a special occasion they would roll out the red carpet, so to speak.

The three men hovered uncertainly as she wheeled herself up the steep ramp. She flexed her arms when she reached the top, kissing her bicep, just for them. Tim laughed, at least.

Cass, Steph, Damian, and Jason waited for her in the foyer, bending down to give her birthday hugs. She could hear Alfred not too far down the hall, speaking with someone, maybe taking a last minute call.

“I heard Timmy here gobbled up the last of your cake,” Jason teased, giving the person in question the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture by pointing to his eyes with his forefinger and middle finger held in the v-shape and then turning his hand to point at his target. Tim made a noise of exasperation behind her.

“No, it was an equitable trade. He gave me my favorite espresso and a ton of other coffee paraphernalia in exchange for splitting the last slice with me. He earned it,” she replied, sending Tim a wink over her shoulder.

“Sweetie?”

Barbara jumped and turned her attention to the new faces crowding into the foyer. “Dad?”

Alfred finally made his appearance and beside him–apparently the person he had been talking to earlier–was her father. He smiled and his eyes crinkled around the edges in the way they only would when he smiled for her.

“Happy Birthday, again, sweetheart,” he said as he leaned down to hug her.

“Dad, how? I thought…”

He straightened and gestured over her shoulder, where Dick had just entered with Bruce. “Dick called me right after we finished up our brunch, told me all about the special dinner Bruce and Mr. Pennyworth were planning for you, invited me over, and I thought to myself, you know what, Gotham and the PD can take care of themselves for at least one night, for once. You’re worth at least that much and much, much more.”

“Dad…” Barbara had to wipe away a tear before she tugged him down into another hug. “I’m glad you came.”

He squeezed her tightly, voice soft as he replied, “I’m glad I came, too.”

The rest of her chosen family gave them the space and time to enjoy the moment, but as soon as she and her dad disentangled, Alfred began shooing everyone toward the dining room. Barbara shooed her father toward the others with one hand, motioning meaningfully toward Dick with her eyes. Her father nodded, getting her drift, and shot her one last twinkling smile before he followed Bruce and the others down the hall.

Dick paused beside her and sketched a playful bow, sweeping an arm out in front of them. “Ladies first?”

Barbara snorted, then leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dick. I knew you’d figure out _something_. At least now I can understand why you waited to 'give’ it to me,” she teased.

He beamed. “It was a last minute inspiration, but I’m glad it worked out. I still plan on getting you something else, too, just not coffee or computers, okay? Maybe…hmmm…maybe something with bats all over it?” he mused teasingly. “Now, who’s ready for some of Alfred’s best grub?”

“I’ll race you there,” Babs challenged, grinning over her shoulder at him as she shot ahead in her chair.

“You’re on!”

Race or not, neither of them dared go too fast–there was only so much running or speeding Alfred would tolerate in the manor before he gave you a disappointed look and a piece of his mind, after all. Barbara won, course. Just before they entered the dining room, she paused and snagged Dick’s sleeve. “Wait. So who does my dad think Jason is?”

Dick chuckled nervously. “Well, I think he knows that it’s Jason, somehow, but earlier I got everyone to start calling him 'Peter’ and your dad’s just been going along with it, so…”

Barbara tugged Dick down, silenced him with a quick kiss on the lips, and threw her arms around him. “Really, Dick. Thank you,” she mumbled into his neck.

She felt him huff a fond laugh into her hair. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> I almost forgot to write this year's installment! I pulled this out of my --- at the last second and it's barely edited. Hope you enjoyed it anyway! 
> 
> EDIT 2020.09.23: Major edits and minor revisions to better fit the growing series :)
> 
> My DCU tumblr sideblog is [redrobinfection](https://redrobinfection.tumblr.com/). Read, reblog and like this work on tumblr [here](https://redrobinfection.tumblr.com/post/187912860331/dicks-favorite-person). Kudos and comments appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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